Ask4healthcare in the News

21 July 2012 | Finger On The Pulse, Online medical portals SEE business opportunities with the growing need for healthcare products and services in India

Ask4Healthcare.com uploads and manages health records online and offers discounts on treatments and second opinions from doctors. It charges a one-time fee of Rs 600 for a family and Rs 450 for individuals, has gained 200,000 registered members in its two years of operations. “The number of members has been growing steadily at 12-15% a year,” says Rahul Kasliwal, director, Ask4Healthcare.

The website has tie-ups with the Apollo and Fortis groups. Sites offering free consultations may be low on details but paid sites offer upfront credentials (degrees and experience) of doctors, who range from dieticians to neurosurgeons. Usually, people come to health-related sites for a second opinion after visiting the “Hinduja [Hospital]-type place,” Kasliwal says, adding, “12% of all internet traffic out of India is related to health, and it’s also the fastest growing segment, with over 50 million Indians suffering from chronic ailments like diabetes and hypertension. India is already the disease capital of the world.”

June 2012 | Virtually FIT - Healthcare Finds a New Home, Online

Guidance and Advisory services are other crucial aspects of health care. There is hardly any reliable advisory service in India when it comes to treatment of severe diseases. Ask4healthcare.com spotted the opportunity and is now one of the premium medical advisory firms. The idea for ask4healthcare.com came to co-founder Rahul Kasliwal through his personal experiences. "One of my family members had a neurological problem, we got him treated for months in Jaipur, but nothing happened, the doctor was not aware and made matters worse. That is when we were looking for guidance on best hospitals and doctors and nothing was available at that time." narrates Kasliwal. You can now post your query about hospitals, doctors, cost of treatment or anything related to a medical condition. The query is then sent to subject experts and answered accordingly. The website is a boon for patients who come from abroad looking for cheaper cost of treatment. In fact foreigners comprise of 5-10% of its customers. Registered members can also avail discounts at hospitals. The website gets more than 3 lakh visitors / month. The website is also finding users from smaller towns and cities, especially in Bihar Jharkand and north east states where there are no good hospitals available and people need to travel for treatment.

1st June 2012 | Good health is now just a click away

Healthcare is now just a click away portals like ask4healthcare.com now provide e-consultation services to patients apart from helping them locate a hospital, clinic or a doctor for a particular medical condition or surgical procedure. One can also easily go for a second opinion to the e-doctor available on these websites. For smaller cities and towns accessibility to quality healthcare is a challenge and in metros it is the convenience that drives patients online.

September 2011 | Online Consultation: E-clinic Clicks

With the rise of internet users and IT penetration in India more people are looking for health information online. This has given rise to a number of health portals as well as online consultation portals. This fairly new business avenue has many takers as evident from the number of users of these sites. More over the investments in these companies point towards their popularity among investors as well. In the last few years the number of such sites is increasing, however only time will tell how many of these will be economically viable and sustain the initial surge. M Neelam Kachhap takes a closer look at the rising trend.

This rising trend in health searches online has opened new doors for business. It has also given the busy doctors a new platform to interact with their patients. In fact, many doctors feel that web presence is one of the necessities of their trade in today’s world. While some doctors have personal websites, some are present online via the hospital website. Nevertheless, the trend to have an e-clinic or online consultation is on the rise..

“This is a huge segment, ripe for a consumer internet play. But it is also unstructured and cluttered with millions of providers trying to reach a billion patients,” explains Kasliwal who co-founded Ask4healthcare after a bitter experience where he was not able to get information on latest treatment and techniques available for a certain ailment by family and local doctors..

3rd May 2011 | Healthcare goes online from NCR

In today's fast-moving life, when it is difficult to even take out time to visit a doctor, online health services that provide unbiased second opinion is a blessing. Start-up health portals like Ask4healthcare.com are providing diagnostic services after you detail in your symptoms.

   "We wanted to create a platform for interaction between healthcare providers and patients as well as amongst patients with similar ailments - thereby providing transparency regarding best treatment options across India. With Delhi-NCR housing some of the top medical centers and with high proportion of tech savvy population always searching for guidance regarding best treatment options, this was a perfect place to launch from," said Rahul Kasliwal, Director, Ask4healthcare.com.

   The portal generates its revenue from membership fee from patients which is Rs 600 for a family of four and Rs 450 for individuals. The membership offers discounts in treatment and second opinion from leading centers across different cities. It also provides creation and management of digital health records. Their second revenue stream is subscription fee from service providers and advertising revenue.

   "In last two years we have over 2 lakh registered members or patients and the membership has been increasing at 12 to 15 percent," added Mr Kasliwal.

   According to all these players who are driving the online healthcare revolution, the biggest growth drivers are increasing internet penetration, along with increasing awareness and expenditure on quality health products, such as branded nutrition. Moreover, with the busy life, scarcity of time and money, the convenience that an online health service offers is priceless.

20th May 2011 | Web Panacea : e clinic brings doc's chamber to your home

Ask4healthcare.com locates closest doctors and helps fix up appointments all across India. In addition to online consultancy service, it also has discount tieups with organisations such as Fortis Hospitals. "There is a clear need and this space is apt for a consumer internet play, with a potential billion plus consumers and a million plus healthcare providers. This is a highly scalable business", says Rahul Kasliwal an IIT / IIM graduate who co-founded ask4healthcare.

6th Jan 2011 | Ek click ya phone call per medical suvidha

Navintam upchar taknik, aspataloon mein suvidhayein aur unme bachat ke vikalp ab bas ek click ya phone call per uplabdh honge….